Arturia KeyLab mk3

A MIDI keyboard controller from arturia — a control surface that plays and controls software/hardware instruments but generates no sound of its own. The occasion for this source is minor: a new “Ultra Orange” colorway of the existing mk3, with no functional change (“colour aside, it’s the same KeyLab mk3”). Ingested as a thin T3 news item, kept mainly because it opens the controller category and the arturia node in this spoke.

What it is

• Keybed: semi-weighted with aftertouch.
• Hands-on controls: nine touch-sensitive 360° rotary encoders, nine touch faders, velocity/pressure RGB pads, and a color display for contextual feedback.
• Connectivity: MIDI I/O, USB-C, pedal input.
• Creative helpers: chord play, scale mode, and an arpeggiator with hold.
• Build: high-density plastic, ruggedized knobs, real wood paneling.

The bundle model

Ships with Analog Lab Pro, Ableton Live Lite, and a selection from Arturia’s V Collection — the controller is sold as an entry point to Arturia’s software instruments, so the hardware and synth software are one commercial package. It is the spoke’s first pure control surface: where cyma-forma-alt answers “who moves the controls” with sensors and modular-routing with patching, a MIDI controller is the plain-keys-and-knobs answer. No price/availability given in this announcement.